


Runaway

by Subtle_Shenanigans



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Angst, Anxiety, Chat and Ladybug are platonic soulmates, Chloé redemption arc, Depression, Drabble, Gen, Guardian Marinette, Kinda, Marinette runs away, Overwhelmed, Possible Salt, Running Away, Stress, and dealing with bullying, and other stuff, do not repost to another site, look the girl is a guardian, no beta we die like Unus Annus, possible PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:09:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28635267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Subtle_Shenanigans/pseuds/Subtle_Shenanigans
Summary: Sometimes, the only option is to run.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 6
Kudos: 81





	Runaway

**Author's Note:**

> This is an expanded one shot of my Darktober chapter 27, ‘safe’.
> 
> It’s an idea I’ve danced with quite a bit. I have yet to see the movie, so no spoilers there.

“Will you be safe?”

She pauses at the window, only for a moment. Then leaves without a word.

* * *

It’s been about a month now, and Marinette might finally be getting used to it.

Sure, she missed learning, and the scheduling, but school hadn’t been all that enjoyable the last year with Lila.

With the lies. With her own lies.

And the Akuma piling up, on top of homework, her parents too busy with the bakery, learning as _Guardian_ -

“Marinette; _breathe_.”

Tiki’s whispered chime brought her back from her spiraling thoughts. She nodded, focusing on evening out her breath. When she was finished, as much as she could be, anyway, she opened her eyes to see Tiki hovering in front of her.

Her Kwami gave her such a kind, honest look, and Marinette couldn’t help but open up her arms for a hug, even if the Kwami would only latch onto her near her throat.

“Oh Marinette,” Tikki breathed. “We’ll get through this. Okay?”

“Y-yeah.” She coughed, rubbing at drying tears. “Okay.”

It had been a month since everything had become too much.

A month since Marinette disappeared. Since she ran away.

* * *

She was staying in Master Fu’s old, closed down shop. It wasn’t listed for sale, and was just in that sort of limbo of ‘abandoned but not yet interesting enough to put on the market’.   
  
It gave her mixed feelings, really. She was mad at Master Fu for not involving Chat more (something Marinette herself had decided to rectify - she taught him what she could as she herself learned, on patrol.

When they weren’t keeping an eye out for Marinette, at least.)

And she was sad, and nostalgic, and all sorts of mixed up feelings.  
  
But she couldn’t go home. Not back to- not with all the stress she had started to crack under.

So she stayed in the abandoned building, in the back rooms. A mat rolled out, with comfy pillows - the room was full of pillows, actually, for the Kwami. She let them out for the most part. To get to know them.

(And to reevaluate who might be good matches for them. The other Miraculous users, barring herself and Chat, were exempt now. And not just because their identities were compromised.

No, but because most of them she could no longer trust. She needed to choose with her mind, not her heart.)

  
Wayzz was taking the time to teach her what he knew, along with the other Kwami.

It was safe, at least.

Even if she missed her family and friends.

(She was thankful, for the Kwamis. For thousands of years old, they acted like children sometimes, and she was able to teach them as much as they taught her.

And Chat too, who had noticed she was down. She couldn’t tell him too much about her personal problems, but he was always there with a pun or a smile or a purr, open and honest and kind.

She loved him, he was her soulmate, even if she didn’t feel it in a romantic way.

. . .she needed to stop letting her thoughts wander so much.)

When she wasn’t in the old shop, she was patrolling, or fishing coins out of old fountains and gutters. She had brought all her savings (originally for her design work - she tried not to grieve her well-loved work) and some clothing to help disguise her a bit, but one could never be too careful. Sometimes Kaalki helped her to teleport farther away from Paris, to pick up some food, and teleport back.

Thank heavens Master Fu had left a working refrigerator. How it worked when the lights didn’t she’ll never know.  
  


All in all, she was doing okay.

* * *

She had left a letter.

It was simple, and to the point. She made sure they knew she was running away, not- not anything else. That she was stressed and bullied. That it was just a break and she would come home soon.

( _A lie lie lie. Lying to go transform and keep her secret identity was one thing. This, this was worse._ )

She even made sure to imply it was Lila, not Chloé, because while she was mad at her childhood tormentor, it was Lila who worried her more. Lila, who had no reason to be so vile and manipulative. Chloé, at least, she understood.   
  
(She had even spoken with Chloé, since she had run away. As Ladybug of course. It had been a long chat. Hours, actually. And while she made her displeasure and disappointment known, she also let the girl know that she wasn’t a horrible person. She had seen better sides to Chloé. Knew she was a good person, inside. She even made sure to apologize for avoiding her before. Because it _was_ wrong of her, and she deserved an apology.

Chloé had taken it all stoically, then the dam had burst and she had vented her feelings.

In the end, it had been a good chat. And while Marinette wouldn’t allow Chloé to wield a miraculous, possibly ever again, she considered her an ally.)

* * *

It hurt, to see her parents looking for her. Her face plastered on the news. She wondered how social media was responding to this (had Lila twisted it all? We’re they mad, did they think it was a ploy for attention?) but she had purposefully left her phone behind.   
  
There were other ways to find the Akuma.

* * *

The miracle box changed again, as she grew with it. No longer red with black spots; it was akin to a music box, with a latch on front. Dark cherry wood, with silver and black etchings. Some of the designs on it were the key; she didn’t even have to look. No, she held it, and felt the etchings under her fingers, and let instinct guide her to open it.

While it didn’t play music when opened, inside was lined with red silk, where the miraculous lay in their indents.

This change brought her peace.

* * *

“Hey,” Chloé says as she goes to leave. “They miss you, y’know?”

She doesn’t ask how Chloé found out, or what has become of Lila. She nods her head once without looking, and then leaps into the night.

* * *

  
“Do you think she’s safe?“

It’s raining, and Chat’s ears droop along with his hair. He looks worn and depressed.

“I. . .” because what does she say to that?   
  
But she can’t leave Chat like that, drooping from misery as much as the rain.

“I think,” she starts slowly, choosing her words carefully, “that she will be. She left of her own volition, right? There’s people looking for her; the police, the Dupain-Chengs, the media. And,” she loops an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer and grinning, “ _we’re_ keeping an eye out for her.”

Chat gives a wobbly grin, brightening a little. “You’re right. I’m just. . .”

“You care,” she draws him closer for a moment, “and that’s what she needs most. People who care.”

And he gives a real grin at that, one that warms her inside and out. Even if her own smile is fake; even if she might be speaking lies.


End file.
